The Braille format was devised to enable the blind or visually impaired to read alphanumeric characters using their sense of touch. Braille is presented in “cells” of dots raised above the surface of the reading material in unique patterns so that a sight-impaired person may simply brush their fingers across the field of dots to feel the pattern of dots and thereby “read” the letters represented therein. Initially each Braille cell consisted of six dots, arranged in two columns of three dots each. Each alphanumeric character is represented by a unique set or pattern of six raised dots in the cell. Because of the number of combinations possible in a six-dot cell is limited to sixty-three, the cell has been expanded to eight dots, by adding two dots at the bottom, to form two columns of four dots. Braille recognition technology is known in the art that optically scans the projecting Braille dots, recognizes the pattern, and associates it with a particular alphanumeric character, via a computer, so that Braille texts may be read via the computer's user interface to persons without sight. Braille code on printed matter is often referred to as being in “India-ink”. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,243,655; 5,982,911; 5,710,417; 5,169,342, and 6,625,613 disclose various devices and methods for recognizing and interpreting Braille text. Braille does not aid the sighted person who cannot read alphanumeric text do to illiteracy or a cognitive disability.
Bar code labels are known to comprise a series of parallel dark bars of varying widths with intervening light spaces, also of varying widths. The information encoded in the bar code is represented by the specific sequence of bar and space widths, the precise nature of this representation depending on the particular bar code symbology used. Methods for reading bar codes may comprise generation of an electronic signal wherein a signal voltage alternates between two preset voltage levels, one representing a dark bar and the other representing a light space. The temporal widths of these alternating pulses of high and low voltage levels correspond to the spatial widths of the bars and spaces. It is this temporal sequence of alternating voltage pulses of varying widths which is presented to an electronic decoding apparatus for decoding. Prior art bar code scanners are typically operated in one of two modes, fixed or handheld. In the fixed mode of operation, objects with bar codes thereon are moved to or past a stationary bar code scanner for scanning. In the handheld mode of operation, a portable bar code scanner is typically oriented and/or moved to the bar code label to be read. Examples of various bar codes and bar code readers are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,918,029; 4,275,381; 4,283,622; 4,323,772; and 4,329,574. Bar codes are not used in combination with one another to form symbolic representations of thought or alphanumeric text, nor can they be used effectively to communicate instructions to the sighted person who cannot read alphanumeric text do to illiteracy or a cognitive disability.
Non-reading sighted persons may be illiterate or be afflicted with a cognitive disability that prevents or impedes their ability to receive information through reading standard alphanumeric text or Braille code. Braille was designed and intended to be read by sightless persons, while bar code symbologies were designed to be machine generated and machine readable. In the case of bar codes, they must be printed with standard alphanumeric text (or Braille code) in order for the underlying information to be readable to a person.
Graphic languages have been used to communicate with language deficient persons, and graphic user interfaces have been the standard for user interfaces on personal computers and the internet. Braille has not been translated to graphics for persons with sight who can not read text, nor have bar code technologies been used to facilitate communication between humans and machine, or to enhance human reading ability.
As a consequence, there has been a long felt need for a graphic language combined with machine vision technologies to generate a new visual language for non-reading sighted persons such as the cognitively disabled.